As well as figurative sculptures I make pots, and one great advantage of showing pots is that nobody ever asks 'what's it a pot of? ' but the same cannot be said of sculptures. The idea for making these figures originally came from seeing extremely simple but compelling Mycenaean sculptures in books and in the British Museum, and wanting to try to make something similar for myself. As time has gone on they have developed their own identity.To bring my sculpted figures to life I try to focus their attention on something, otherwise they can look self-conscious. They are often reading a book or listening to music, which seems to provide a frame, or at least a sense of containment.The manipulation of the physical proportions in my figures is there to give emphasis, stature and visual strength; and also to ensure that they can never be mistaken for dollies.